Andrei, and thoughts on Russia

Andrei Tarasovich | 1999

I posted some shots from a trip I took to Russia back in 1999 a few posts below. Go figure that in these days of constant contact and internet openness, I neglected the fact that someone might eventually see these things and have a connection to them. I actually checked my junk-mail folder the other day (which I do about two times a year) and found a message in Russian with a familiar name in the title field. It wasn't spam at all, but a message from Andrei's girlfriend Nastya. She had found my photos online in a search I suppose, and translated her Russian email to English and sent it my way. BAM, I translated one back, and now I have solid contact with an old friend (and a new friend) in Vladivostok. I can now send Andrei the box of music I fully intended to send all those years ago, but didn't know the address or even where he had landed. I also found out that Andrei is now a craftsman, building fine-wood-furnishings for yachts. Who knew? And I have an open invitation to visit Eastern Russia again, and spend some time in the woods that impacted me so much all that time ago. Dang 'ol interwebs. Very cool.